The Rice Wine of Jiangwu
by lajoiedevivre
Summary: A twist on the last episode: Azula and Ozai die, Mai comes back a bit later, and Zuko and Katara get drunk.
1. Sunset

Sokka had always warned her about the adverse effects of alcohol. Which was why Katara could only picture her brother's face when she woke up in Zuko's arms the next morning.

* * *

It had all started with Iroh, and his novelty wine. "This," he said, proudly displaying a sample of the drink, "is a rare brew of rice wine, exclusively distilled in the mountains of Jiangwu. Nowhere will you find an alcohol as pure, or a flower as aromatic. What is special about this particular rice wine is that even though it is extremely concentrated, inebriation takes about an hour." Chuckling to himself, he poured the drinks.

Katara hesitated; she had never drank wine before, and wasn't sure she was ready. And how many times had Sokka told her never to drink? Eying her brother carefully, she realized he was the most eager of them all, grabbing the first glass for himself. _Hmmph, the hypocrite._ She followed suit, claiming one portion for herself. Before she would taste the liquid, however, thorough observation was necessary. First, she sloshed it around a few times, glaring at Sokka, who was sitting at a table with Suki. Next, Katara sniffed the container's fragrant contents, noticing that Toph and Aang had declined the offer and were examining Sokka's painting. Finally, she inspected the clear liquid, watching Zuko leave the room. She held her breath and took a small sip, savoring the cool liquid before it ran down her throat. Surprisingly, it tasted…good. She emptied her glass a few more times before bounding out of the room to find Zuko.

Katara found him looking at the view, a sight only accessible from the teashop's terrace. Despite the breathtaking landscape and spectacular sunset before him, Zuko didn't seem much interested.

"How do you feel?" she asked, concern mingled in her words.

Looking away from the rooftops, he asked, "What?"

"How do you feel, now that you finally have the honor you wanted all along?"

"I feel…torn," he answered, looking back to the city.

"…Why?"

"All this comes at the expense of losing my family. They weren't exactly loving people, but they were still my only family." He took another drink of his wine. Funny, his uncle had shared the wine in celebration, yet here he was, abusing it to drown out his emotions.

"But, you did the right thing. If you hadn't killed Azula, who knows what could've happened? The best thing you can do now is rule the Fire Nation well so her death wasn't in vain." An uneasy silence crept in between them, while Zuko helped himself to more of the alcohol.

"So is your chest feeling better?" she offered sheepishly. After all, it _was_ on her behalf that he was injured.

"It's better, but a little stiff. Doesn't really hurt unless you touch it." He had downed his second shot and was reaching for his third when she stopped him. He turned to face her, his hand still tightly in Katara's grip. She turned a bit pink and quickly withdrew.

"Sorry," she mumbled, "it's just your wound might be affected by the alcohol and—"

"No, it's okay." He set the small cup down and fell back to watching the scenery.

The silence lasted for several minutes, as Katara stared off into the distance, the impact of this victory, this triumph, this ultimate end finally dawning on her. The voyage to the Northern Water Tribe, the time within Ba Sing Se's walls, the despairing journey to find Appa in the desert, and their days of hiding inside the Fire Nation; all the moments of their long odyssey came rushing back to her, as feelings of anxiety, relief, and _closure_ welled up inside. The extent to which the war had affected all of their lives was amazing, and this wave of emotion left Katara contemplative, as she sorted through numerous what-ifs in her head.

"What do you think would have happened if—if you hadn't betrayed us that day? If you hadn't joined Azula's side in the catacombs?"

Almost startled by this sudden question, he replied, "I don't know. I suppose things would have turned out quite differently..."


	2. Nightfall

The sun was long gone by now, and there was nothing to keep the two company except for the moon and the stars. Meanwhile, the alcohol had completely robbed them of all reason, and they were giggling uncontrollably on the ground for no apparent reason,

"So—so, you sent the guy sprawling across the room?" she slurred, incapable of containing her laughter, "In front of everyone?!"

"Yeah! He was flirting with my_ girlfriend_…. what do you expect?!" Sitting on the floor, Zuko was equally drunk. He wasn't sober enough to know what he was doing, but even if he were, Katara wasn't sober enough to remember these stories anyway.

"And then what happened? Did he fight back?" She was next to Zuko, whose cloak she had around her shoulders. The night air was unusually chilly that evening.

"Well…I dunno….BUT HE WENT SPRAWLING ACROSS THE ROOM!" He collapsed into another fit of giggles, an unnatural sight for anyone in their right mind to imagine. He had never laughed this hard—quite possibly in his entire life—and the sensation felt unnatural to his throat.

The combination of liquor and exhaustion was beginning to get to the firebender, who had consumed much of the rice wine. He became drowsier and drowsier with each passing minute, and eventually laid down into a drunken sleep.

"Zuko? Zuko? ZUKO?!" She shook him weakly, her own eyelids reluctantly drooping now. "Don't…"

And with that word, the girl dozed off into her own drunken dreams.


	3. Dawn

The pale golden rays of dawn tenderly roused the Fire Lord, a naturally early riser, as he rubbed his eyes with his left hand. The right one, along with the right half of his chest, seemed to be pinned down by a rhythmically moving weight of some sort that, coupled with a stiff chest wound, made for a somewhat paralyzed Zuko. His eyes were still quite functional, however, and he cast them down to look, seeing none other than Katara, peacefully resting her head and shoulders on him. From what he could remember, they had been talking out on the veranda the day before, and he had had a few glasses of his uncle's wine.

"Katara," he whispered, "wake up." He strained to gently shake the girl awake, but to no avail. The headstrong waterbender mumbled some incoherent words and rolled farther onto Zuko's chest, impairing the rest of his torso but freeing his right arm. He signed, an action now difficult, and tried again.

"Katara….get up." She remained motionless, half of her body still on Zuko's. He resolved to wait until she came to; the truth was, moving hurt. She would wake up eventually…and it wasn't as if they were _doing_ anything. Zuko shook his head, attempting to disperse (and sternly banish) any thoughts of _doing _anything whatsoever with Katara. He desperately tried to get her off his mind, but her scent, of all things, still lingered. She smelled pleasantly of…lavender. He breathed a grunt of frustration, wondering why in the world none of the others had come looking for them in the night. At this rate, it was going to be a few hours before anybody woke up, meaning he would remain in this uncomfortable (and potentially compromising) situation with her until then. Her soft brown hair had spilled all over his body; her head nestled right below his chin. Worst of all, his arms were bent awkwardly to his sides. _If I could just move my arms somewhere else…_

After a few moments of silent deliberation, Zuko hesitantly wrapped his arms around her sleeping frame. _Yep, it's definitely more comfortable._ Noticing the abnormally low temperature of her skin, he tightened his hold on her. _And if anyone were to find us here, I could just close my eyes and feign sleep._ Zuko smiled at his brilliant precaution. Frankly, it felt quite nice to just hug her in his arms without any protest on her part. He felt…at peace, almost, and the golden silence was calming. This unexpected realization had come too late however, and by now, the fiery sun was beaming in its full-bound glory. The Fire Lord closed his eyes, only to open them again to the stirring motions of the girl in his arms.


	4. Sunrise

Katara brought her hand up to suppress a yawn, her eyes only beginning to adjust to the sun. She blinked a few times before sensing a very strong pair of arms around her. She stood up in one fluid movement, and turned around to face whomever it was lying on the ground.

She blinked again, but not because her eyes weren't accustomed to the brightness. "…Zuko?"

And then the previous night's events hit her.

The boy had only gone into shock for a second when she awoke, settling into his phony sleep almost immediately. He was skillfully playing his part at the moment, the even breathing fitting in flawlessly with the rest of his charade. He did peek, however, detracting from the quality of his performance; not to mention it _was_ difficult to fight back his grin, (although he somehow managed it).

Katara, on the other hand, was much too flustered to notice his poorly hidden smile. When the waterbender saw him sprawled out on the floor, she bolted. In the safety of her chamber, she was in no fear of him awakening to the thundering noise of her heartbeat. Silently, she slid down the door, her arms still tingling from the warmth of his lingering touch.

* * *

He slowly got on his feet, brushing off his clothes. Smiling slightly, he was happy to know she had fallen for his amateur act. As he tried to put on his cloak that Katara had forgotten in haste, he winced in pain.

"You need some help with that?" The familiar voice made him turn around.

"Mai…you're okay!" A surprised Zuko opened his arms to embrace her, but she maneuvered her way around him. "They let you out of prison?"

Pulling his other sleeve on, she responded, "My uncle pulled some strings. And it doesn't hurt when the new _Fire Lord _is your boyfriend."

"So does this mean you don't hate me anymore?" he asked.

"I think it means," Mai blushed, (the color reminding Zuko of a certain girl) her hand reaching around his neck, "I actually kind of like you…"

And she leaned in to kiss him.

Within a few seconds, she abruptly pulled away, her eyes irritated and her nose scrunched up in disgust. He tensed, waiting for her wrath.

"Zuko, why do you smell like fresh lavenders?!"


End file.
